A Quirk In Fate
by wolfsrainrules
Summary: A collection of oneshots, AUs, and random thoughts based in the BnHA verse. Now: Izumi knew she was supposed to stay hidden, that humans were not to know of her kind. She kept to that vow- technically- right up until the moment it became life or death. She always had been a hero.
1. The Obligatory Villain AU

"Oh _come now,_ Kacchan," the voice was a dark twisted mimicry of everything Katsuki remembered, for all that it sounded friendly, "you always _said_ I'd never be a hero didn't you?"

A soft laugh, "You were the only one who ever _saw_ this coming really. The others- they told me I could never be a hero too, of course...but you...oh, _you_ Kacchan...you told me to take a dive off a roof too, didn't you? It was because you saw _this_ end result right?"

Katsuki breathed through the painful twist in his chest, through the stifling _regret_, through the desire to burst into tears, as he stared at his old friend.

Deku- Midoriya Izuku- looked so _different_ now. He was clad in a form fitting suit, black slacks, shined shoes to match, red suspenders over a blood colored dress shirt, sleeves rolled back to the elbows, and a black skinny tie looped perfectly in place. His hair was spiked back, away from his face and leather half gloves covered his palms, fingers and knuckles, but left the back of his hand open to air.

The most striking difference though- the one that _hurt_ Katsuki to look at- were his eyes. They were the same green that had always been, but they were _cold_. They were narrowed, intent on _pain_. They were not filled with a spark of passion and joy, with the determination to stand, and keep on standing, no matter what or who came at him.

Katsuki swallowed the blood in his mouth, ignoring the sting of his split lip as he rasped "What happened to you, Deku?"

Izuku paused, blinking as if in surprised, before he threw his head back, and laughed. When he looked at Katsuki, his face was soft, as if they were children again, best friends, and he was about to share a secret.

"I had my eyes _opened_ Kacchan. This world….it's a _mess_. Heroes save people for _money_, they commercialized the idea of helping people. Quirks are regulated so strongly, it's like they don't want anyone to have them at all, really. No public quirk use? _Why_? It's who we _are_ now, a natural step in evolution. People can't help what they're born with- or without- and outlawing a quirk use is like outlawing black hair. It's not going to _stop_ people from having black hair, it just makes them go out of their way to buy dye. And the quirkless? Don't even get me _started_ on the quirkless, Kacchan. You saw what they treated me like. What they did- what _you_ did- what they _allowed_ you and every other bully in the school to do, just because you had such a '_heroic'_ quirk, and I _didn't_. Like my lack of quirk made me completely _expendable._"

Izuku scoffed, shaking his head and taking a step back "I only had the obvious pointed out to me- and I want you to see it too, Kacchan."

His entire face softened for an instant, a gloved hand extended out towards Katsuki "You're too good for them Kacchan. You've always wanted to be a hero right? Can't you see? What I'm doing- it's to _help,_ to save society from itself. They'll call me a villain of course, but I'll be a hero that never sees the light of day, the sort that does the dark and dirty things that need doing, a _real_ hero, and isn't that what you want to be? Won't you help me, Kacchan?"

Katsuki looked up at his friend with horror in his heart.

He..._he was serious._

He really meant it. He saw what he did as something that would _save_ the world. He was…he was the kind of villain that _believed_ in what he did. The most dangerous sort.

Katsuki's stomach turned, bile crawling up his throat. All of this- everything that had happened to his friend- it was his fault.

Katsuki had driven him to this- had been the one to shove him over the edge. He could remember the day he told Deku to take a leap of faith. He'd regretted it as soon as it came out of his mouth. Had even gone looking for Izuku, to apologize, or yell, or just- something. He'd gone after him.

But he had disappeared. Katsuki had been unable to find his old friend, and the first sinking feeling of fear had touched him.

_(-take a leap of faith off the roof-)_

Deku _wouldn't_. He was _stronger_ than that. He'd stood up to _everyone_ who ever said he couldn't. Looked down his nose at those _naysayers_. He'd always picked himself up, and kept going. Kept promising '_I'll be a hero like All Might!'_

_(-there's one thing you can do-)_

Deku _wouldn't_.

_(-pray in the next life-)_

He'd been _absolutely sure_.

And then he had walked into class the next morning, and Deku's desk was empty.

But the thing that had caught him off guard, the thing that sent his heart to his feet, and acid up his throat, the thing that made him dizzy with denial and horror-

There were white chrysanthemums sitting on top of his desk.

_If you really want a quirk, there's one thing you can do! Go to the roof, and take a leap of faith! Pray you'll get your quirk in the next life!_

His own words had echoed in his head like a death knell. He'd staggered backwards, out of the room, bile and acid clawing up his throat as he ran_ran__**ran**_ from his mistake. He hadn't stopped for anyone- friends, teachers, it didn't matter. All Katsuki could think of, all that he could _hear_ was his vile, horrid words echoing_echoing__**echoing**_ in his own mind.

_-take a leap-_

_-there's one thing-_

_-pray-_

_-in the next life-_

Katsuki had _**screamed**_.

He'd found out later that it was a joke from one of the kids who overheard the comment Katsuki had made.

_(Katsuki had beat the shit out of him for it later.)_

But that didn't stop the fact that Deku had gone missing, that Katsuki had _said_ those words to him. That Katsuki had never gotten to apologize.

And now…

...Here he was.

A villain.

A villain who _praised_ him for seeing it coming, offered him a hand and spoke of making the world _better_.

Katsuki couldn't help but shake his head in denial. Of the offer, the situation, at everything that was happening.

Deku's face twisted into a look of sadness twined with anger.

"That's okay Kacchan. You don't understand yet." the other boy's voice was soft, almost caring. "I didn't understand either, not at first, but Sensei...he made me see. And I'll make you see too.

I promise.


	2. Deku Has A Bad Day, And I Scare Kacchan

Deku was a well known Pro Hero, well on his way to the top ten, and very much looking to become the next Number One.

A Pillar of Hope, to the previous Pillar of Peace.

He had a habit of throwing himself into villain fights, and coming out on top. Sure sometimes he got hurt, but he was really good at avoiding anything that ended with injuries. _(When questioned, he often rubbed the back of his head and mentioned his friends and family, jokingly saying they were worse than any injury he managed to get.)_

The point, was that the public had gotten used to seeing Deku in the middle of battles, seeing him pull off the impossible, getting up again and again, making sure that he and anyone with him came out of things alive and well.

This was especially true whenever Deku was working with anyone from his old high school class. They'd learned teamwork and trust from their very first year. It was like watching a dance, something with the movements planed to the last twitch, when anyone from the famous 'Class 3-A' was out of the field working together.

Watching any of the 'Big Three' of class 3-A working together was a work of art especially. Bakugou Katsuki- the explosion hero Ground Zero- Todoroki Shouto- the elemental hero Icyhot- and Midoriya Izuku- the '_you can do it'_ hero Deku almost seemed able to read each other's minds they worked so well together.

No one really managed to stay free and causing chaos when they were on the scene. Not for long.

Perhaps that was why no one saw the result coming.

**LINEBREAK**

Hostage situations were the _worst_. Deku hated them the most. He hoped MindJack got here soon. Hitoshi's quirk was _amazing_ for situations like this.

He kept his hands up and open, standing still next to Kacchan and Shochan. They were tense beside him, but none of them moved. They'd arrived just a few moments ago, and the villain had panicked at the sight of them.

Deku knew he was fast enough to grab the hostage, but he wasn't sure if he'd manage it _before_ the villain pulled the trigger of the gun pressed to his hostage's temple. He _could_ but with all the rubble of the building, and the other people in danger, the panicking civilians in the way, and quirk of the villain in question enhancing his reflexes and reactions…

Deku didn't want to risk it unless he _had_ to.

"It's alright," Deku kept his voice calm and even as he spoke, but his eyes met the terrified girl in the villain's hold. "No one is going to be hurt." He smiled at the girl, before he lifted his eyes to the villain and narrowed them, the smile unwavering on his face. "I'm here."

**LINEBREAK**

Deku saw the reaction coming a fraction of a moment sooner than the others.

It was reflex- instinct.

He didn't even _pause_ to think.

They'd gotten the girl free, Icyhot having taken her over to the police line while Ground Zero handled the villain, and Deku tried to calm the others. Deku wasn't sure what the villain had done to get out of Kacchan's hold, but he had.

He'd gotten free, and then he'd gotten his gun. He was bringing it up, aiming for Kacchan's chest, and Deku just…._moved._

He screamed his childhood friend's nickname, "_KACCHAN!_" echoing over the air as Deku took a flying leap assisted by One for All towards his friend. The boom of a gunshot was deafening, seemingly vibrating through the chest of those present.

Deku didn't hesitate, as he snapped his hand out, the rush of air pressure knocking the villain back, towards the ice that Shochan had instinctively flung in their direction. Shouto adjusted immediately and the villain found himself encased to his shoulders in seconds.

The pain didn't register until Deku hit the ground. He landed on top of Katsuki, a shaky- "You okay, Kacchan?" -escaping his lips.

"Deku, what the _fu- SHIT."_ Katsuki had been shoving himself up, getting ready to shove Izuku off, but as soon as he began to move his friend, Izuku had cried out. Katsuki's eyes had snapped down, and the spreading stain of red became very obvious on the green of Deku's hero costume.

"Deku, you fucking shit!" Kacchan's voice was vicious, but his hands were gentle as he shifted, lowering Deku to the ground.

His hands didn't shake as they rushed through the motions he'd practiced for ages, working to stop the blood, to help keep his friend alive. "_ICYHOT!_"

Shouto was already reacting, moving to get the paramedics attention, even as he rushed to help provide a stable icy path for them to reach the other two heroes in the rubble.

"K-Kacchan. I- I'm glad you're alrigh-alright." The smile he shot the blonde was bloody.

"Shut the fuck up, Deku! Tell me that when you're healed up you little shit!"

Izuku laughed, choking mid-sound, moaning softly at the jolt he had given himself. "I- I wanted- you to kn- know."

Katsuki's voice cracked, his hands applying a firm steady pressure to the wound. "You can fucking tell me when you're better."

Izuku' tipped his head, to look up at Katsuki from the ground. "I don- don't know what I would h-have done if that hit. You're…."

Izuku paused eyes drifting shut for a moment, before he jolted in place, choking for a moment.

Katsuki's breath caught, a sob choked back, "I'm _what,_ fucking nerd?"

It took a moment for the question to register, and Katsuki could hear Shoto guiding the paramedics through the rubble, freezing them a stable, careful path to their side. Still- Deku answered him anyway.

"You're m- my brother. I k-know it took-" a cough, a shaking, stuttering inhale" -took us a while t-to get there, bu-but I love you. Y-you're family."

Katsuki's breath caught, and his voice shook with tears as he snapped "Y-You _fucking nerd!"_

It had taken him _years_ to get to this point, to make up for what he had done as a stupid teenager raised to believe in his greatness. To make up for years of hurting his friend. It had taken them villain attacks, almost death, saving each other, fighting together, and therapy before they had managed to rebuild their friendship into what it _should_ have been.

To hear that….for Deku to _voice_ it…

"Stay with me, you fucking idiot!"

Deku's eyes closed, and a bloody hand lifted to grip at Katsuki's bicep. "T-Tell mom a-and Toshi that M'sorry."

"Deku? DEKU! _**IZUKU!**_"

Katuki was shoved backwards as the paramedics finally made it over the mess of rubble, and rushed to help. Katsuki's hands shook, dripping and dyed red. He stared down at them, then turned to look at the smeared handprint on his bicep.

The shaking that hadn't overtaken his hands while Katsuki was putting pressure on Deku's wound, rocked through his body then. It started with his hands, and worked its way outward, until his legs folded under him.

Deku had taken that bullet for _him_.

It should have been _him_.

Katsuki could see a paramedic kneeling in front of him, trying to talk to him, but all Katsuki could hear was a ringing note in his ears. The edges of his eyes were blackening.

_It should have been __**him-**_

_How was he supposed to explain this to Auntie Inko and Toshinori?_

To their classmates?

How-

_How the fuck-_

Katsuki couldn't breathe.

_He couldn't __**breathe-**_

**LINEBREAK**

Katsuki woke up in a hospital.

At first he thought the entire mess had been a bad dream. That he _had_ been injured, and the memory of Deku's blood swelling over his fingers was just a bad flashback to the Battles of UA, and not something he had lived through _again_.

But then Shouto leaned into his eyesight, and the look on his face was enough.

Still- Icyhot offered him the desired information without prompting.

"Deku's in surgery to remove the bullet and fix some of the damage. He's been there for a few hours. They told us he lost a lot of blood, that it's been….that it's been touch and go. They're saying he's strong, but they don't...they don't know how this is going to go."

Katsuki almost wished he hadn't. The tight feeling in his chest was back, and it was hard to make his body _breathe_.

He only jolted out of it when the scent of burning fabric reached his nose. He'd accidentally burned the sheets.

He slowly unclenched his fists, and closed his eyes. He ignored the sting of threatening tears. "Does...does everyone else know?"

Shouto nodded. "We've been taking shifts here with you, but everyone else is in the waiting room."

Katsuki threw his legs over the edge of the bed. "Take me there."

**LINEBREAK**

Katsuki held Auntie Inko's hand in one of his, returning the tight grip she had on him. Toshinori held the other hand, and all their classmates, and a few of their teachers were scattered through the waiting room, sitting against the walls on the floor when all the chairs had been taken up. A few had to leave for their patrols, but almost everyone was present.

Their eyes remained focused on the screen that gave updates on those who were in surgery.

The tension in the room was thick, and the silence was broken only by soft whispers as the class spoke to each other.

When the door opened, the entire room surged to their feet.

"Midoriya Izuku's family?"

The room gave a collective affirmative, and the doctor's eyes were soft. Everyone knew how close Class 3-A was, how they all kept in touch, and were more a family then old classmates. It was in all of the class' paperwork, that their classmates and select teachers were allowed to know information should they end up in the hospital.

"He's alright."

Katsuki's legs gave way, and he collapsed backwards into his chair, head thrown back to stare at the ceiling. He clenched his eyes shut, so, _so_ thankful that he would not have to pass Izuku's last words along to his parents.

And while the image and feel of Deku bleeding out under his hands would haunt him for the rest of his life, at least Deku was still alive.

Inko sobbed into Toshinori's shoulder, soft prayers and thanks escaping between the cries, and that would stick with him too.

"Thank _fuck,_" Katsuki whispered his own prayer under his breath, before he stood back up and approached the doctor.

"What else can you tell me?"


	3. Make Him Fight for It

**ITS FOUR AM, I'M VERY TIRED AND I WROTE THIS INSTEAD OF SLEEPING. Wife has not edited, as I didn't want to wake her. **

**Warnings: ANGST. Talk of death and blood. **

* * *

Izuku hated the days he wasn't quite fast enough, strong enough, wasn't there _early_ enough to save somebody. Those were the _worst_.

No matter how many people he saved, how many lives he prevented from ending, there would _always_ be that one _son-mother-daughter-father_ where he wasn't _enough_.

And he _hated it_.

For a long time, it felt like a personal failure, no matter how many times he succeeded, how many families or friends he could reunite after a disaster, when the time came that he just…._couldn't_, it always felt like a personal…_lack_.

Even for the things he couldn't have stopped- an earthquake causing a building to collapse, a flood sweeping someone into too deep water, a villain attack that he was nowhere _near_ at the time…

It didn't matter, really.

But…

There was one incident that stuck with him the most.

The one that changed his entire outlook on the situations where he wasn't quite fast enough. He'd tried so _hard_, during that battle. He'd acted to save a young woman- in her early twenties- caught in an attack.

He hadn't been on duty then. He'd been in civilian clothes, on his way to the mall, when a villain with an earth manipulation quirk went nuts. He'd been ripping the ground apart, tearing foundations of buildings apart, and letting them collapse. Deku hadn't hesitated, he'd acted to save those he could, even as he lashed out at the villain in question, aiming to subdue him so that the earthquakes he was causing- small and localized, but _dangerous_ in this shopping hub with all the buildings and people.

Other heroes had arrived within moments, and Deku had subdued the villain, but the ground had still shook, aftershocks, and unstable buildings collapsing all around the heroes.

Deku had seen a building coming down, on a woman who had frozen in the street, watching the chaos around her. His body had moved on its own- as it always had. Always would.

He's swept the woman up, and shielded her with his own body, once it became obvious he wouldn't be able to avoid the entirety of the collapsing building. They'd been buried.

More than that, rebar had pierced _through_ his body and into hers.

He could remember her sobbing against him, in the dark, the wet slick feeling of blood- his and hers- the hard metallic _cold_ of the steel rebar in his body. He remembered whispering comforting words to her, a hand pressing hard against her wound, where he could feel the blood welling up, as well as he could.

He remembered the agonizing wait for rescue workers to dig them both out of the mess, while he tried to stop her bleeding, and keep the woman some level of calm.

_(He would later learn it hadn't been that long objectively, but…)_

He remembered talking to her, and her whispered "_Please, don't let me die Deku."_

And he had promised "_I'll do everything I can. I'll try my best."_

When they had been dug out of the mess, he'd been taken with her to the ambulances, and he had hoped so _hard_ that she would make it.

She didn't. The rebar had destroyed something internally that it shouldn't have.

Deku had insisted on being present to break the news to the family, who had of course been aware thanks to video footage of the incident, as well as the hospital informing her next of kin.

The woman's name had been Yamamoto Michi.

And Deku would remember the world of her husband for the rest of his life. The man had been childhood sweethearts with Michi, and they'd married kind of young, but everyone had seen it coming. He'd loved her- Izuku could tell that even during their first meeting.

Which made the words he had shared, after Deku had apologized all the more meaningful, even through his tears.

"_You didn't break your promise- you or the doctors here. You promised to try and keep her alive. And you _did_, you tried. Death may have taken her, but he had to _fight you- _and them_\- _for it."_

On dark days, when dust and ash, smoke and blood filled the air, Deku would hold those words close to his chest.

Death may come for those he wanted to save, but he'd have to _fight_ for every life he took in Deku's presence.


	4. Everyone Wants to be a Mermaid right?

**I LOVE ME A GOOD MER-AU. LOVELOVELOVE. I've been sitting on this idea forever, (like since last may?) and finally wrote it down for you all to enjoy. (FemDeku warning b.c I'm weak)**

Izumi knew she _technically_ wasn't supposed to be doing what she was doing. It...wasn't really allowed.

Granted, she _technically_ hadn't broken any rules either. She was staying hidden, no one had seen her, and _yeah_ she was following a ship full of pirates around but it was _fine_. None of the pirates had seen her trailing after them, subtly helping where she could.

_(She was attached okay. They grew on you, loud and obnoxious or not, like barnacles-)_

Still- it was against the laws of her people to be seen by a human. Merfolk had disappeared into the sea for a _reason_, after all, and most would just as soon kill a mer than not. But...but she was _curious_, okay.

These men were...they were _different_. They were different than what mers had said humans were supposed to be. Izumi was absolutely certain of that, watching them interact with each other, and with those on the docks they stopped in.

She'd seen them interfere with Dragonborn, with Mages, with children that just needed a hand. It didn't seem to matter what sort of race those they helped had- she'd even seen a few members on the crew of the captain.

So maybe she was bending the rules a bit, maybe she sang to the oceans, urged the currents to help their ship, wove her magics into the wood, helped their ship sail through places they might not otherwise be able to sail. Maybe she sang warnings into the air, bent her magics to warn them when storms were coming, when things were going to go wrong.

Maybe she had followed them through many battles, through many events, both happy and sad, maybe she loved them all, just a bit, but she had no plans to actually _reveal_ herself. Her entire race had been hunted to so few...the entire race had retreated to hidden coves and reefs, their magic woven so tightly around the Sanctuaries that none who were not aware and welcome inside them could enter.

Mages, and even humans with the correct instructions could create many a magical item or weave certain effects into various things ranging from clothes, to wards, to weapons, if they had the proper ingredients from a mer. Their entire bodies were saturated with magics, so much so that the magic in their scales, blood, hair, and bodies were enough to allow those who had no magic of their own to create whatever magical item or potion they were attempting.

The Huntings had caused so much pain for her people...Izumi would not cause problems by revealing herself to this crew of hers, these people she had grown to care for.

She held fast to that desire, to that belief, to the laws of her people, even months after she had started following them. Months after she had grown attached and started acting to prevent or stop rivals and enemies from touching _her_ ship.

_(Look, __**sure**_ _she blew up a hull or two, caused waves and choppy waters, and had once destabilized an anchor to save her humans, but it wasn't like anyone involved had _seen _her so it was still not breaking any laws._

_Technically.)_

She held fast when storms struck, and she watched her humans fall into the ocean, hidden from their sight, she held fast during attacks she couldn't stop, she held fast during all the events she wished she could help with.

She held herself to her silent word, until the day it became a matter of life or death.

Her secret, or the Captain's life.

The storm had been horrible, waves surging over the surface of the ocean, and sweeping onto and across the deck of the ship, lightning and wind, the sort of storm where it was near impossible to see three feet in front of your eyes on the surface.

Izumi had stuck close, following in the shadow of the ship, keeping an eye out for any troubles, and weaving strengthening magics into the wood of the boat.

And then, further up, she watched- felt- the disturbance in the waters as the Captain was knocked from the ship and into the ocean.

Her heart leapt as she watched the blonde sink, unmoving towards the sandy floor. Her eyes scanned the waves but-

But in this storm, even _if_ his crew had seen him fall into the water, the chances of them _finding_ him were next to nothing. The chances of the humans- or even the dragonborn- surviving the swells of the waves, the choppy, churning waters, the pelt of hard rain...keeping up with the ship, and staying strong enough to _continue_ to do that until they were found…?

The fact that none of the Captain's crew had followed after the man was sign enough-

They hadn't seen him go over, or couldn't find him on the waves, had no idea where to start.

There's an instant, a fraction of a moment, where Izumi is frozen in the water. She was never supposed to _reveal_ her presence. She was supposed to keep herself and her race secret. She was never supposed to be confronted with a choice like this-

Her eyes are huge as she stares.

Air bubbles escape the unmoving form, and Izumi chooses almost before she's even aware. Before she could think about it. She's moving before she knows what she's doing, choice made even before her brain catches up.

Her tail propels her through the water with a powerful swish, her billowy fins a swirl of movement. Her entire body moves with the motion, her arms and hands cutting through the waters to make an already fast movement so much quicker.

Her hands are gentle as she catches the sinking body, pulling him close to her form and directing them upwards. She breaches the water harshly, hauling the limp form up after her, using the upper part of her own tail to help brace him up while she fights the waves and wind, her magics swirling to help keep them both above the storm.

"Come on," her voice is a whisper as she works to make sure he's still breathing, no water in his lungs, or any damage from hitting the water. She can see his ship, and very distantly she can hear her crew panicking about their Captain's location over the storm.

She bites hard at her own lips, staring after the ship and closing her eyes tightly. "Aizawa-sensei is going to _kill me_. And mom is going to reverse the tides when she finds out about this."

She pulls a deep breath in through her nose, holding it before she shifts the pirate's form again. No choice- not if she wants this man to live. And she does.

She's attached.

She turns to look at the pliant form, his head- loose and obviously unconscious- cradled against her neck, nose turned towards her throat. With a soft curse, she turns, and hauls him forward, turning him to face her. It's the work of a moment to seal her lips over his own, and with a twist of her of magics, in the same moment she inhales, she can feel the ocean water rushing out of the human's lungs. She pulls backwards, and the water follows in a stream, twisting out of the man's mouth and falling back among the waves.

As soon as the last of the saltwater is gone, thanks in part to her magics, the man jolts in her hands, ruby-jewel eyes snapping open. It takes him a second to focus, and Izumi swallows her nerves as she meets his eyes.

She knows the moment he realizes what she is. His eyes flicker over her form, and then they widen, his mouth dropping just the slightest, and he whispers a soft "What the fuck?"

She doesn't hesitate to begin moving, ignoring the sting of harsh rain on her face, and how the human flails for a moment, before he seems to realize she's dragging him towards his ship, where he begins to help her by kicking his legs and generally trying to swim along with her.

Izumi feels sick, even as she powers through the water. She _shouldn't _have revealed herself. She really, _really_ shouldn't have. She'd broken laws her kind had held sacred since the Hunting. She was going to be in _so much_ trouble, but..._what was she supposed to have done?_

Let him die?

She could _never_.

She _would never._

Still, her hands shake as she pulls up beside the ship, and allows the man in her arms to pull his crew's attention to himself with his voice. She even twists her magic, so the water in the air would carry it up to the crew's ears better.

Sure enough, multiple faces appear over the railing, and a ladder is lowered quickly. She holds the Captain steady in the storm surges, preventing the waves from slamming his body into the ship, or dragging him under it, as he begins to haul himself up.

She looks up at him as he climbs, pausing to look back over his shoulder, and down at her, in the waves.

She waits only until the dragonborn is reaching over the railing to haul the Captain up towards safety, before she dives beneath the waters, disappearing from their sight.

Somehow, despite the water between them, she just _knew_ Aizawa-sensei knew what she had just done.

**LINEBREAK**

Bakugou Katsuki was not a man easily shocked. He'd crossed the ocean many times, had met and befriended many races that most humans lived in fear of. He had a _dragonborn_ for a first mate, witches, mages, and elementals among his crew. He'd seen magics and acts most would call impossible or the work of a god.

He'd never seen a mermaid before.

He'd heard the tales of course. What sailor worth their sea legs hadn't? That didn't mean he had _believed them_.

Sirens? _Those_ were real. He had one on his crew, and they weren't water-bound as most myths would place them. They looked human enough. But mermaids? Merfolk?

Yeah, no.

He'd never seen even a hint of _those_ being real in his travels.

Not until he'd been knocked from his ship, voice lost in the rush of the storm, and hit the ocean certain he'd never see his crew again.

And then- then he opened his eyes, and eyes the color of the finest emeralds met his. He'd seen the scales trailing delicately over cheekbones, down her neck, and shoulders, and though her to be a dragonborn for all of two seconds, before he'd seen the jade-and-sea-and-emerald tail holding him steady before she began to swim, cutting through the storm surges and rain like they weren't present at all. He'd moved on autopilot, swimming alongside her, even as his eyes darted up and down her form, taking in the scales that trailed across her hips, up and over her chest, hiding anything from view, and down her spine and arms. He took in the curly but wet hair, the same shade of emerald forest as her eyes had been, sticking to her shoulders in the rain. He could feel how her hands shook, and fine tremors ran through her body.

He glanced over his shoulder as she easily hauled him from the water, and held his form steady against the waves as his crew threw him a ladder to climb aboard. And he saw the way she watched him, fear in her eyes, before she turned away and dove down-down-down, the only sign of her presence his survival, and the flash of flowing fins before they disappeared under the water.

He owed her his life.

He hoped that one day she would allow him to repay her.

He was a man that paid his debts.


End file.
